Chapter 138: External Field Trip (11)

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So this was Primordial Unity’s Single Pole.

Carl ceaselessly repeated that formula while drawing in the light of Kailos.

[……Wh-what!]

The Demigod Kailos let out a cry of bewilderment.

He was nothing more than a human.

It was true his vessel was large enough to contain two divinities of another world, but was he not still just a fledgling who had yet to reach the ranks of a true Hero?

And yet he had begun absorbing his power?

[Such madness…!]

Drawing in and absorbing were two very different matters.

Accepting power beyond one’s capacity was the same as inviting death.

But Kailos twisted his face as though he had realized something.

‘Dangerous.’

This one already carried two divinities in his soul.

It was something that should have been impossible, but Kailos had no intention of denying what was already occurring.

The problem was that he still showed the form of a wide vessel.

If he could enact the unthinkable, then did it not mean he could contain a third divinity as well?

[I cannot possibly allow that!]

Kailos twisted his body.

Even if he was only a fragment, he had still reached the level of a Demigod.

How could his pride endure being absorbed by a mere greenhorn?

[Aaaahhh!!]

Kailos screamed.

His long hair shook as a violent light burst from his entire body and rushed toward Carl.

Carl, wrapped in his Protective Device, had braced himself against the attack, but as if to prove he was indeed a Demigod, Kailos shattered the defense with ease.

The gray barrier crumbled instantly, and gaping holes pierced through Carl’s body.

Yet Carl only lifted his head with a faint smirk, showing he did not care.

“An attack like this is meaningless in a space of mental images.”

Only the opponent was affected.

If one was familiar with imagery and intent, one could easily avoid damage, but fortunately Kailos seemed unaccustomed to this space.

‘Unless he pours his intent into the attack, he cannot truly harm me.’

He merely consumed some mental energy to restore his body, but his actual flesh was neither cut nor wounded.

Ssshhhhh!

A sword of light surged upward.

Blue-tinged trajectories rampaged about, collapsing the ground again and reshaping the terrain.

Carl leapt back to conserve his energy and raised his Divine Sword Cheonroe sharply.

Flash!

A dazzling light burst from the tip of the blade.

It was the Heavenly Thunder technique of the Heavenly Origin Sword Technique.

This strike, named for the sword itself, was the fastest of the Heavenly Origin Sword techniques.

It was enough to deflect Kailos’ sword of light.

Thud!

Of course, Carl did not come out unscathed.

The rebound from their clash left the hand gripping his sword in tatters.

His fingers twisted, muscles torn, and deep wounds revealed the bone.

But when Carl gave his ruined hand a slight twist, the injuries healed in an instant.

‘I must finish this here.’

Carl kicked through the air again, clinging persistently to Kailos as he gnawed away at his strength.

If they fought like this in reality, neither his own body nor Laysis’ would survive.

If Kailos escaped this mental space, he would surely harm Laysis’ body, so Carl swung his sword with all his might.

Fwoooosh!

The wave of the Primordial Unity Divine Art, driven by two stars of mastery, swept across the mental space.

Even the Heavenly Demon Divine Art could not unleash such might at merely two stars—this was on another level entirely.

As the gray currents stormed from above, pressing him down relentlessly, Kailos wore a look of despair.

[That power… what is it supposed to be…?]

So there were not just two divinities?

Along with the previous two, that gray current carried traces of yet another divinity.

Kailos could not begin to comprehend it.

[What in the world are you, that the gods bestow such love upon you!]

And this time, he could not even discern the form of the fragment.

It was simply incomprehensible.

It seemed clear that its level far exceeded even his own.

‘Three divinities. If he truly possesses…’

At that moment, Kailos’ eyes flew wide as he realized something.

[So that’s it! You too are an existence from another world, just like the Heroes! That is why you were acknowledged as their successor and able to wield such powers!]

“You realized too late.”

Carl gripped the Divine Sword Cheonroe firmly.

What Kailos said about divinities from another world piqued his interest.

Was that presence only felt in divine arts?

Or only in martial arts that could touch the realm of the gods?

For now, both the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the Bright Heaven Divine Art, and the Primordial Unity Divine Art had been recognized as divinities.

Since the Heroes had made no such mention, it seemed none of them had cultivated similar martial arts.

‘So arts like the Plum-Blossom Sword Technique don’t count?’

In the Hero’s relics beneath the Imperial Palace, he had seen the Sword Tomb of 《Justice》 engraved with traces of countless martial arts.

Most of them were the highest-level techniques of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families, yet did this mean such techniques could not reach the divine?

‘This is something I’ll need to look into.’

God.

In the Central Plains, that title was given as a metaphor for reaching the heavens.

Sword God, Martial God, Demon God—they were all the same, not true divinity.

But here in Artenia, gods truly existed.

They resided in the Celestial Realm, descending to the middle realm or granting their believers divine power to intervene and interfere.

If he mastered the martial arts of the Central Plains to their peak and reached divinity, could he too become such an existence?

Ssshhhhh!

While he pondered, his sword moved on its own.

The wave of the Primordial Unity Divine Art once again formed a raging thunderclap that struck down upon Kailos’ head.

Sixth Technique: Heaven Quake.

The ultimate technique of the Heavenly Origin Sword, one of the most powerful by sheer might.

Kailos raised his sword of light to block, but the force he had shown at first was no longer there.

Boom!

Even though the Heaven Quake technique was unleashed with full power, it still could not compare to the might of the Heavenly Demon.

Nevertheless, it was more than enough to bring Kailos down, sending him crashing to the ground.

[……Kugh.]

Perhaps due to the combined impact of the Heavenly Demon and the Bingbaekmok’s power, Kailos could not even mount a proper resistance.

He seemed to force out divine power to strike back, but it was nothing more than his final struggle, and now he could not even restore his body.

Thud.

Carl descended upon him and once again reached out his hand to absorb the divinity.

This time, unlike before, he was able to absorb Kailos’ light without resistance or interference.

Even so, because it was still the power of a Demigod, it took quite a long time to completely absorb it.

Carl exhaled deeply at the overwhelming brilliance that poured into his body.

‘So this is divine power.’

If one had to compare, it was like ingesting a tonic filled with fresh energy.

In the Central Plains, it could be likened to using the Absorbing Star Great Technique to seize another’s strength.

As the new energy filled his body, Carl sat cross-legged in the air and circulated his internal power.

Ssshhhhh.

He slowly moved the divine power, observing its form.

It was indeed different from mana.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the Bright Heaven Divine Art, and the Primordial Unity Divine Art all forged their strength by refining natural energy and mana.

But divine power felt complete in and of itself.

‘Still, divine power isn’t just one thing. As you can see from the priests, the properties vary depending on which god they worship.’

The God of Earth, the God of War, the God of Smithing…

Each displayed different types of divine power, with differing scope and utility.

For example, the God of Smithing’s divine power had extremely low healing ability, while the God of War’s divine power would struggle to bless crops sown in a field.

Like natural energy or mana, it was unified under one foundation—divine power—but depending on the chosen martial art, its nature diverged according to the god.

‘But now I understand why they said mana and divine power are opposites.’

The two had yet to blend.

Simply coexisting in his body made his blood boil with rejection.

A priest could not become a mage.

And a mage could not become a priest.

They were positions that could not coexist, forcing one side to be abandoned.

‘But that doesn’t matter.’

Primordial Unity’s Single Pole.

The Primordial Unity Divine Art already fused the irreconcilable powers of orthodox and demonic energies like water and oil.

If its function was to merge what could not be merged, then could it not also contain both mana and divine power?

Crackle!

At that moment, white sparks burst around Carl.

His hair rose, and a chill ran down his spine.

At first, he thought it was the backlash of trying to mix mana and divine power, but then a familiar voice whispered by his ear.

[Did you think I would let myself be absorbed so easily?]

Kailos roared, burning his last flame.

As a Demigod, he could not show the disgrace of being meekly absorbed by a human.

Since resisting from outside was impossible, he chose instead to rampage from within Carl after being absorbed.

Boom!

Carl’s body jolted violently.

The divine power, not yet blended, convulsed inside him, wrecking his body from within.

“……”

Carl ground his teeth.

He was prepared to bear the cost.

If he failed to absorb Kailos, then both he and Laysis would surely suffer.

This was the most efficient way, the one that minimized damage.

‘Even if I cannot absorb it all, that’s fine.’

Carl memorized the divine power.

He had already laid the framework and foundation, so even partial absorption would allow him to cultivate it gradually.

The most urgent matter was erasing Kailos’ will from within this divine power.

Since this was his first attempt, he anticipated difficulties.

Boom!

Carl drew out the energies of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Bright Heaven Divine Art from his dantian.

Using the Primordial Unity Divine Art might have allowed him to suppress by force, but rebalancing after absorption would not be easy.

So instead, he chose to stir all three energies into a mud-like struggle, planning to merge and absorb them once their strength was worn down.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Carl’s body shook under the tremendous impacts.

In the real world, outside the mental space, he was slumped while holding Laysis in his arms.

Cracks split his skin as blood seeped out, and veins appeared from his ears and nose.

“…Ugh.”

Laysis, who had lost consciousness after Kailos seized her mind, slowly opened her eyes.

Her mind still carried fatigue, but since Kailos had moved into Carl, she was able to recover safely.

“Ah.”

As she opened her eyes and saw Carl before her, Laysis let out a sigh of relief.

She remembered only up to the point of her mind being stolen by Kailos and had been terrified about what would follow.

‘Once again…’

Carl had saved her.

Laysis instinctively tried to embrace his body, but the metallic stench of blood brushing her nose made her snap her head up.

“…Carl?”

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